Wednesday, May 21, 2008

7 Knowledges of an Ideal Person

I often read Bhikkhu Samahita's What Buddha Said google group where he posts various sutta readings on a daily basis. Today he posted something from the Anguttara Nikaya which I found interesting: the 7 Knowledges of an Ideal Person. (I can't seem to find the exact sutta online anywhere else, but he lists it as AN IV 113.)

The sutta describes both the ideal monk and ideal layperson. Below I've quoted only the parts pertaining to laypeople:

Which 7 Knowledges makes a Person Ideal?

1: Knower of the Dhamma, Principles, and Causes (Dhammaññūtā):
...
The ideal lay person knows the underlying principles of everyday life, & what is reasonable to do. He knows and understands the duties & responsibilities of his own & other posts & occupations.

2: Knower of the Goals, Objectives, and Meanings (Atthaññūtā):
...
The ideal lay person knows the aim of his duty, position, or occupation & the real purpose of life.

3: Knower of Oneself (Mattaññūtā):
...
The ideal lay person knows his exact status, condition, strength, knowledge, ability, & morality. He then acts accordingly and does what is needed to improve and reach greater maturity.

4: Knower of Moderation (Attaññūtā):
...
The ideal lay person knows moderation in consumption, spending, speech, work, rest, & recreation.

5: Knower of Right Occasion (Kalaññūtā):
...
The ideal lay person knows the proper & punctual occasion for any dealing with other people.

6: Knower of Groups (Parisaññūtā):
...
The ideal lay person knows individual differences, temperaments, abilities, & virtues of other people. He knows this community have these rules & regulations; culture & tradition; they have these needs.

7: Knower of Persons (Puggalaññūtā):
...
The ideal lay person knows whether particular other people should be associated with, what can be learned from them, & how they should be related to, employed, praised, criticized, advised, & taught.

I seem to be kind of bad at some of these. I guess I'm not the ideal layperson just yet.

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1 comments:

JD said...

Robert-

I feel like there are aspects to each one of these 7 Knowledges that I have to work on. I suppose one of the things that makes the Dhamma so special is that one could use any number of themes or teachings from the suttas and devote a whole lifetime to using it as a skillful means. These 7 could be something to wisely reflect on.